Master Tse’s Wing Chun Notes #73

Wooden Dummy木人椿

How about Wooden Dummy 木人椿 training? We all think that we must learn this at the end, after we have completed Biu Zi 標指. Actually it is not necessary to wait so long. After we have learnt Siu Lim Tao小念頭, even if you have learnt well, I do not think that you will be able to perform it perfectly. It takes time, maybe three years to get it right. When you have a good teacher you will realise that it may even take ten years to perfect it. So generally, when we learn Siu Lim Tao, and I mean practising it every day, after 6 to 9 months you can start to learn some of the Wooden Dummy. If you know Tsum Kiu尋橋 that will be better, and if you understand the Seven Star Footwork詠春七星步法, that is the best, as you need good footwork for your Wooden Dummy training.

We should remember that the Dummy is not for hitting. The harder we hit or kick it, the worse our skill will actually be. Generally, the more muscular we are, the less Wing Chun skill we will have as we will rely on our strength instead. When we train on the Wooden Dummy we must treat it like a partner who allows us to train our techniques, including kicking. We use it to get into the right positions, catch the right angles and also use make our footwork correct.